Conway On The Defensive Again - Says There's No Hard Evidence Of Collusion

By: Jim Owen | July 14, 2017

Hillary Clinton is “one of the only people” who still thinks the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to meddle in the 2016 election, according to Kellyanne Conway.

The White House counselor declared Friday morning on 'Fox & Friends' that “the goal posts have been moved” in the debate over whether the president’s associates cooperated with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to derail Clinton’s presidential ambitions. “I mean, we were promised systemic, hard evidence of systemic, sustained, furtive collusion that not only interfered with our election process but indeed dictated the electoral outcome,” Conway said. “And one of the only people who says that seriously these days is still Hillary Clinton and nobody believes it. We know why she lost. It’s obvious.”

Politico pointed out that the presidential adviser made the claim despite the recent revelation that Donald Trump Jr. met in June 2016 with a Russian government lawyer who offered harmful information about Clinton. Others who attended the meeting were Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and Paul Manafort, who chaired the Trump campaign until August, when he was forced to resign amid reports that he had worked for a pro-Putin Ukrainian leader. Trump Jr. said that instead of providing dirt on Clinton, the lawyer used the meeting to lobby for policy changes concerning the adoption of Russian children by Americans.

The president has long denied that his campaign colluded with the Russians. The claim apparently is false, based on the email chain that Trump Jr. made public. New York City publicist Bob Goldstone, who set up the meeting with the lawyer, exchanged several emails with the president’s son. He explained that the Kremlin wanted to share the anti-Clinton information as “part of” its effort to help Trump win the election.

Conway, who took over as campaign chairman following Manafort’s departure, described the meeting as “opposition research.” She told Fox News: “You know, when I needed negative information about Hillary Clinton, I didn’t have to go very far. I looked at Hillary Clinton. She was a treasure trove. She was like a treasure box of negative Hillary information with arms and legs.” Conway downplayed the significance of Trump Jr.’s conversation with the lawyer. “Many meetings end up as a bust that aren’t particularly meaningful, consequential or helpful,” she said.

The aide accused the news media of being obsessed with the growing Trump-Russia scandal, while failing to properly cover the administration’s legislative agenda and other matters. “So, again, what kind of money are we going to spend by the taxpayers having these infinite investigations, and there are many of them,” Conway said. “If we’re going to do that, fine, I suppose. But we really need to spend our time, also, telling people what’s being done here for them.”

According to MSNBC, the news of Trump Jr.’s meeting is “documented evidence of Vladimir Putin’s government not only offering assistance to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle during the campaign, but top members of Trump’s team welcoming the foreign support.” Conway argued on Fox News: “I just want to review in case you run out of time. This is how we see it so far. This is to help all the people at home. What’s the conclusion? ‘Collusion?’ No. We don’t have that yet. I see ‘illusion’ and ‘delusion.’”